Читать книгу Fundamentals of Financial Instruments - Sunil K. Parameswaran - Страница 20

The balance of trade is equal to the total of merchandise exports and imports. It consists of all raw materials and manufactured goods bought, sold, or given away. If it shows a surplus, it indicates that exports of goods from the country exceed imports into it, whereas if it shows a deficit, it would obviously indicate that imports exceed exports. The balance of trade is a politically sensitive statistic. If a country's balance of trade shows a deficit, industries that are being hurt by competition from abroad will typically raise a hue and cry about the need for a level playing field to take on the foreign competition.